Freezer Meals for Upcoming Baby?

Hi N., this isn't really a recipe, but really helps me since I'm not a SAHM and only have about a 1/2 hour at night to get dinner on the table. I buy ground hamburger (you can do ground turkey too) in like 5 or 6 pounds and brown it all at once with chopped onions, salt and pepper. I drain it and then when it cools off, I put it in 5 or 6 (about a pound each) quart baggies and throw in the freezer. Then when I need a quick pasta meal (or soup or tacos, etc), I don't even thaw it, I just throw it in the pan and it thaws out in the sauce. I hope this helps! Good Luck!

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i have some freezer recipes that i would love to share with you. I am currently out of the country and have the recipes on my home computer. if you would like them, send me an e-mail at ____@____.com, and i will send them to you as an attachment when I get stateside. congratulations on your 3rd.

C.

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No recipe but when you are freezing keep in mind if you lay the bag flat while it freezes you can stack easier instead of round wads rolling off the freezer and on your toes. =D

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Hi N.,

With the tip of freezing chicken broth, freeze them in your muffin tins, then once frozen, you can take them out of the tins and put them into a large freezer bag. This way, you are not chiseling away at a huge block of chicken broth for one meal.

Another idea is to double (or triple) whatever you are making now and put the second one in the freezer with a label so you'll know what it is... For example, instead of placing that lasagna into a 9 x 13 pan, cook it in two smaller pans, especially if your family does not eat it all at one sitting. Or double the recipe, and then cook it in three equally proportionate pans--that way, you have two extra meals when you've only put forth a little bit of effort to double what you are making for tonight's meal...

Yet another fun idea is to get together with some of your friends and do a meal swap. Each of your friends (say in a group of 7 friends) makes a meal--or at least the main entree. But, instead of making only one of it, make 7. Then, you get together on a specific day and trade--each of you leaves with 7 different meals..and all you had to do was to cook one specific meal. (It's easier to do assembly line and make lots of one type of meal than to think about 7 different type of meals...). Don't forget to put instructions on the foil--such as "cook for 45 minutes at 350".

Good luck with this fun challenge and with your upcoming baby! You'll do well. :-)

A little about me: I am a STAHM with 5 children, ranging from age 12 down to age 4. The older four go to school now. :-) I've learned many shortcuts over the years and love to share what I've learned.

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I always cook my chicken in bulk in the crockpot and then divide it up in freezer bags. I also freeze the broth in 1/2 to 1 pint canning jars (I have those available). The recipe is 11 lbs. chicken, 4 qts. cold water, 3 T parsley flakes, 4 carrots, peeled and chopped, 4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper and 2 basil leaves. This recipe is from the cookbook "The Complete Make-a-Mix Cookbook" by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward and Madeline Westover and has all kinds of mix recipes and then recipes to use the mixes with. Maybe the library has it. My mom made a lot of these recipes for me when I had my first three babies, and they are delicious and easy. Good luck!

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use the crock pot. saves on time and your meal will turn out wonderful. for chicken, i put cream of chicken soup with 1 and 1/2 cup water a box of wild rice chopped up carrots and let cook on low for 7 hours. you can put almost anything in the crock pot. my kids love when i make meat loaf in the crock pot. prepare it as you normally would then put it in the crock pot and go take of your baby, relax or whatever you need to do. enjoy!!

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Chicken enchiladas with soy cheese (or no cheese) are easy to make and freeze well. Shred cooked chicken in a bowl. Combine with black beans, corn and green chiles. Roll mixture into tortillas and cover with enchilada sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top, if desired. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes and your done. Good luck!

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Slow cookers are great for frozen chicken or pork chops. With the chicken, spray the cooker with Pam or equivalent. Place chicken in cooker and add a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce. I love Classico with Italian Sausage. Cook on low for 6-8 hours and your done. Serve over noodles, rice etc. Another option is to use a jar of salsa instead of spaghetti sauce. I prefer the large jar of green salsa from Safeway. Great for burritos or to serve over rice. Green salsa is not spicy so your 3 yr. old could eat it as well. Go to
www.allrecipes.com for more ideas. I love the slow cooker because meal is finished and will stay warm until you're ready to serve.
Good Luck with #3!

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I liek to make chicken enchaladas. You could make them with no cheese for your daughter.

Chicken Shredded
Flour Tortillia
Refried Beans
Olives
Green Enchalada sauce
Cheese (optional)

I fry the tortillia slightly in oil then spread some beans a handful of chicken, a couple slices olives pour a little sauce in it then cheese roll and place in 13x9 pan when pan is full I ppour some more sauce over all of them and add alittle cheese and cook in oven at 350 unitl cheese on top is melted or sides brown a bit about 15 min.
Good Luck

B. ____@____.com

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my fave ckn recipe that is easy is sauteeing it with olive oil (lightly coated in flour) for 15 min on med heat and then adding about a cup of chicken broth. don't turn after that. You can add whatever you want, my recipe calls for capers and parsely at the end, but you can do carrots or onions or whatever. yum.....

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Try the All Recipes website (http://allrecipes.com) They have two notable sections--Quick & Easy meals and the Slow Cooker meals. Speaking of which, do you have a slow cooker? That's a great option for making a 1-pot complete meal, just toss in the ingredients with a little water at lunchtime and dinner is ready in ~4 hours.

When your already bought chicken runs low, you may want to consider avenues like meal prep services. Places like Ceres' Kitchen will prepare meals and all you have to do is heat them up, kinda like Papa Murphy's Pizza but for a lot more meals than just pizza. Other places have all the prep stuff and *you* have to mix, cut, chop etc and prep the meals to take home...something you probably want to avoid.

One last thing, do you have Schwan's (http://www.schwans.com) trucks that drive your area? They have great meals that can be prepared quickly.

Are you having a baby shower?
If someone asks what you need/want for the baby (chances are by #3 you have what you need) ask for meals. We all know what it is like to try and get a meal on the table those first weeks, you'd be surprised at how helpful your women friends can be if you just let them spoil you a bit.

I did this with #4 and between girlfriends and relatives I didn't cook or do laundry for almost three months after she was born! I think they were grateful to show off a favorite recipe instead of buying yet another baby trinket. It worked out great for us all.

Something really handy to have in the freezer is plain clear chicken soup broth. you can add anything to it later or even put it medium warm in a sippy cup for when a kid has the sniffles. it is the jewish medicine for a cold or flu. it can even be used instead of water for those quicky ramen noodles that the kids love.
macaroni and cheese is also another winner.
freezing fresh cut up fruit or berries (single layer flat in a ziploc is great to make smoothies with lowfat frozen yogurt!